Welp, a lot has happened in the last few days, so lets try and record it all and not get on any angry rants... Here we go.
When I left off we were leaving Las grutas and heading towards Usuaia. After a 22 hour bus ridewith less substance than an Arthur Miller class we arrived in Rio Galleros just in time to catch the last bus to Rio Grande, last stop before Usuaia. The distance between Rio Galleros and Rio Grande is not large, but the trip still takes 10 hours. However, in that 10 hours you cross the Straight of Magellan (complete Penguin and Commersons dolphin sightings) and go through 4 customs offices (one for leaving Argentina, then one for entering Chile, then one for leaving Chile and one for entering Argentina... whew). We arrived in Rio grande right before the last bus to Usuaia left, but upon further examination of our budget we decided that it would be wise to try and hitch hike the next morning.
Only one note of interest between Rio Grande and Usuaia: we had a small bag stolen. The bag didn´t contain much excpet for MY CAMERA! The story is quite long, so remember to ask me about it some time, preferably when I´m back in the states. Loosing the camera wasn´t that big a deal, but all the pictures it had on it! Basically all the pictures from my time in Colorado, and I had some killer shots of Las Grutas... Damn.
One hitch, two hitch, lost camera, Usuaia.
We made it to Usuaia in two hitches and were luckily able to find a hostle for the night, and make arrangements at another hostle for the rest of our time there. Usuaia is absolutly gorgeous, and is in the fist mountains I´ve seen since Colorado. These aren´t normal mountains though, they remind me of the mountains around Sitka but far more dramatic, but more on that in a bit.
Usuaia is slightly reminescent of a mountain ski town and is loaded with youth hostels and tourist shops, and an overall feeling of cozieness. From nearly anyplace in the city you can look across over the Beagle channel and gaze across history to Isla Navarino. We spent 3 days of rest in this town where I got over my cold (finally) and Laina caught it. She probably deserved it for being so small.
On a quick side note, Usuaia is crawling with Israelis. They nearly out number the Argentines down there. Besides Lainick and myself, the rest of the hostle was filled with Israelis. No, strike that, there was a dutch girl there too. But out of the 30 odd rooms, only 5 were non-Israelis. I have yet to meet another traveler from the states, but my Isreali count is up to 30 something.
After our period of rest and recovery/anti-recovery we decided to do a 2 day trek outside Usuaia called Valle de Andorra. In the words of our favorite Hostle owner, ¨Teirra del Fuego National Park is becomming a privalege.¨ The cost was absurd, so we opted for a free hike. A quick taxi ride later and we were at the enterance to the hike, which was literally some ranchers driveway. The trail veered off that within a kilometer, and we began the hike through the swamp that made up the first third of the hike. We camped after about 4 hours of boggy hiking and tried to fish in a sterile river. Not one bite.
We quickly began to gain elevation on the second day and eventually got above tree line, and out of the Alder forest that had been dominating the hike thus far. Once we left the woods we had full view of the mountains we´d only been privaleged with fleeting glimpses previously. And what mountains! We´d found ourselves in a mountain valley of the most dramatic peaks I have ever seen. Not the Hawaiian behemoths or even the majestic Rockies, these were something else entirely. The valleys were a deep green where there was forest, and once the mountains became too steep for forest, there was only grass and moss, giving it the appearance of a smooth spring carpet. Out of this Eden rose the tops of the mountains, the crags resembling the broken fangs of a prehistoric beast, their surfaces so sheer and menacing that no life could be found. However, life giving water collected on these montains and fell down in a myriad of waterfalls through the green and into the forest and valley below. The landscpe was so beautiful it actually took my breath away, and I was content to stand in the freezing wind and just look and awe. However, due to the absence of my late camera and the cadaverous state of Lainicks battery during this hike, there will be no pictures. No words could ever describe the picture, they simnply lack the necessary substance.
That second day we covered at least 20 kilometers, and ended up at a camping location outside of town. I worked out the budget for the previous 10 days and nearly choked. Travel was over half of what we had spent... just for an example we spend 5 times less on hostles and camping over 10 days then we had spent in 3 bus rides. Looks like we´ll be hitch hiking most the rest of the way from here on out. At least until we get a bit further north (i.e Bolivia). Next stop: Torres del Paines.
I wouldn´t expect an update anythime soon...
